The Business of Christmas

Adverts featuring dustings of icing sugar snow, penguins and flying women in fairy costumes can only mean that Christmas is about to land. And sparing no expense in their fight for prime place during the single best shopping month of the year, the majority of major brands invest heavily in their Christmas advertising campaign. Love them or loathe them, a Christmas without the adverts is pretty much like a Christmas without sprouts. So what can online retailers learn from this? Firstly, that Christmas adverts don’t need boiling for half an hour. Secondly, that you too can benefit from Christmas marketing tricks – entirely without the help of Cameron Mackintosh or any fake snow.

It’s a Wrap

Direct customers towards appropriate gifts quickly and effectively by creating gift box ‘bundles.’ This allows you to sell more than one item at once. Showcase them on your home page, but keep it clean and simple. You should also make sure that buying items together works out to be better value than buying individually.

I saw Free Ships Come Sailing By....

Unless you’re in the business of selling church organs, then offering free shipping will make you a more attractive proposition than your competitors.

‘His and Hers’

Not many women will appreciate cufflinks or a tie for Christmas, so avoid confusion and make it easy for customers to pick ‘his’ and ‘hers’ gifts by creating separate product pages.

Happy New Year

And when Christmas is over? Plan your marketing strategy for the coming year.